B.C. couple turns heads when they cruise in their matching 1960 Cadillac convertibles

Originally published: January 29, 2013

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“When you drive down the street in one of these works of art, people of all ages react as if they are having an orgasm,” quips Ron Tomlinson while chatting about the ‘his-and-hers’ finned Cadillac convertibles that sit side by side in his Langford-area garage.

The gold 1960 convertible is one of only 1,285 Eldorado Biarritz convertibles made. It is equipped with everything but a toaster. The red one is the standard 62 series. Both have huge fins with front and rear grilles resembling a jukebox of the same era.

Gargantuan land yachts, yes. And, no: You don’t need a special driver’s licence to pilot one. These Caddies are surprisingly nimble to drive with the four corners very visible. Parade dignitaries have discovered that crowds pay more attention to the car they are riding in than them.

Since the 1959 Cadillac had twin tail lights mounted aboard Detroit’s most towering fins, the designers have been quoted as saying they got the 1959 design right in 1960.

The 1960 Cadillac is representative of the last of the great romantic road cars. The owners manual has instructions regarding tire pressures and oil viscosity as if one will be cruising all day long at speeds in excess of 150 kilometres an hour.

The 62 Series was the base model convertible. The 1960 Eldorado Biarritz convertible offered over-the-top luxury appointments and was nearly six meters long (225 inches), weighing in at 2,400 kilograms (5,060 lbs.).

Features include air-ride suspension, air conditioning, cruise control, power everything, a custom fiberglass convertible top boot and triple two barrel carburetors delivering fuel to a giant 390 cubic inch (345 hp) engine.

Ron Tomlinson literally bought his Eldorado Biarritz at a fire sale almost exactly 40 years ago. The owners had driven the car from Chicago when they bought a campground near Nanaimo for a complete lifestyle change.

Ron’s father, who had befriended the family and suggested they move to Vancouver Island, had surveyed the property for the owners of the Cadillac. Young Ron had dropped in to see the campground, Four All Seasons Resort, when the owner’s son showed him the big Cadillac Eldorado convertible.

Ron told him he would love to buy the car if it ever came up for sale.

Three years later, the son called Ron to tell him he could have the car. But there was a catch. The complicated triple carburation setup had caused an engine fire as his mother was driving out of the campground and the car was no longer driveable. The insurance company was offering $500 for the car and planned to send it to the crusher.

The son said if Ron couldn’t fix the car, they would buy it back for the same price. Ron responded that he would buy the car and, if he couldn’t fix it, he would put the car up on blocks and polish it.

For $750, Ron rewired the engine compartments and replaced the carburetors to put the car back on the road within a year. But it was five years before the bodywork and paint was done for $1,300. One of the first trips with the car was back to the campground for an emotional reunion with the family from which he had purchased the Eldorado Biarritz convertible.

Ron and his wife were both teachers and the lavish gold Eldorado Biarritz convertible stood out in the school parking lot when Ron drove the car daily for the first year.

The couple brought their two sons home from the hospital in the car. They also took many vacation trips in the car as far as Glacier National Park, Jasper, Alta., Mount Rainier, Wash. and several trips to Oregon’s Forest Grove car show.

“My wife was terrified to drive the car after I had it painted because she was afraid of scratching it,” he says.

Ron’s answer to that was to buy his wife her own 1960 Cadillac convertible which he had painted a very bright red before being delivering it as a 25th wedding anniversary gift.

The second 1960 Cadillac convertible was owned by a man in the same neighbourhood who wanted to sell it for $1,000 so he could buy a Corvette. Ron bought the Series 62 Cadillac convertible in 1985 and hid it from his wife for more than two years while he had the car restored.

The Tomlinsons have driven their rare pair of finned works of art in parades with Miriam piloting the gold Eldorado Biarritz and Ron following up with the red 62 Series convertible.

“The satisfying thing about driving these cars is that they give so much joy to people,” Ron says.

“Old and young people alike love these cars as representatives of the cars that we drove 50 years ago.”

Ron is looking forward to displaying the ‘his-and-hers’ big-finned Cadillac convertibles at the 10th anniversary Cadillac Club of B.C. show, which is expected to attract more than 100 vintage Cadillac and La Salle cars to Victoria’s Fort Rodd Hill national historic site on July 14th.